Notes and Editorial Reviews

Among all the living monuments of musical Vienna, the Vienna Boys’ Choir remains one of the most celebrated and popular. As musical ambassadors of Vienna they are recognised as an attraction not only in Vienna itself but on their regular tours around the world.

The choir can trace its history back over some 500 years as part of the
Hofmusikkapelle, the body of musicians gathered to serve the Austrian court. Established under Emperor Maximilian I, the
Hofmusikkapelle was transferred to Vienna in 1496 and has remained there ever since. Many prominent figures in Viennese musical life were at one time members of the boys’ choir. One of its earliest members, Ludwig Senfl, later became court Kapellmeister, but itsRead more most famous member of all was Franz Schubert, who joined the Hofmusikkapelle as a choirboy in 1808. His successor as soprano soloist was Georg Heilmesberger, head of a distinguished Viennese musical family, while another member was the operetta composer Carl Zeller. So were the conductors Hans Richter, Felix Mottl, and Clemens Krauss.

Their role as youthful musical emissaries is relatively recent. When the Austro-Hungarian monarchy disappeared during the First World War their survival was in jeopardy, but the choir was reconstituted on a basis that enabled them to travel the world giving concerts, from the proceeds of which it was possible to maintain and improve the organisation. After the Second World War the task had to be undertaken all over again. A boarding-school was established in the sixteenth-century Augarten-Palais where the boys could be given a thorough musical education and launched on their careers. That remains the situation today. Four choirs are formed from around 150 pupils aged between 10 and 14, each choir going on tour for about three months of the year.